Briefs: Virtual Prayer, Battling Bacteria, 50-Year ‘Reunion’

BELLINGHAM, WA (May 9, 2013) – Dusty Gulleson, a member of Bellingham Covenant Church, has designed a free iPhone application call “Ora,” which is Latin for prayer.

The app allows users to leverage existing social networks and mobile devices to connect individuals through intercessory prayer. Users also can keep track of prayer requests – both as a reminder to pray as well as keep track of answers to prayer.

CHICAGO, IL (May 9, 2013) – The head of a national foundation that seeks to eradicate “superbug” infections from medical facilities recently cited Swedish Covenant Hospital as a primary example of how institutions can make significant progress in battling potentially deadly bacteria.

Techniques implemented by the hospital have led to a 28 percent reduction of the bacteria Clostridium difficile – popularly referred to as C-diff, said Christian Lillis, who runs the Peggy Lillis Memorial Foundation, in a recent Associated Press article.

The hospital dabs fluorescent powder around a room before it is cleaned, and a special light then shows if the powder was removed during the cleaning process. The strategy has led to a 28 percent reduction in C-diff, Lillis said.

Lillis formed the foundation after his mother died from the bacteria. The diarrhea-causing bacteria is linked to 14,000 U.S. deaths each year.

According to the article, C-diff “is particularly difficult to clean away. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers don’t work and C-diff can persist on hospital room surfaces for days.” The Centers for Disease Control recommend that rooms be cleaned with bleach.

Swedish Covenant Hospital is operated by Covenant Ministries of Benevolence on behalf of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

The ABC News senior medical contributor took note of audience member Ruth Holmsten, who was celebrating her 101st birthday. The two had worked together 50 years earlier at North Park College (now North Park University).

“I was older, and he teased me,” she said after the program. “He was lots of fun.”

Johnson graduated from North Park College in 1956 and earned a seminary degree at North Park Theological Seminary in 1963.